I'm guessing in manufacturing number terms the line between a fairly obscure set that sells out fast and sits on the shelves is small. 10,000 rovers sells out but with 20,000 do a couple of thousand sit there for ever. Personally I like the rover and have one but it's in a completely different league to BTTF or ghostbusters. By delaying the exosuit they've now been alternating licenced set and non licensed set. If BTTF disappears as ghostbusters appears on the shelves that system makes sense. I wonder if that's why they've got the female minifig project sat in a holding pattern.

^After what happened with the Rover and their supposed rationale as to why, I wouldn't take any chances on the BttF set if you want it for yourself.

The Mars Rover and BTTF are two completely different sets. One was a small tun and exclusive to lego store / LDCs the other has had a huge run and available just about everywhere. Many other stores will still have the BTTF set after lego has sold out.

If you ant it, it still might be the time to get it, but more because Ghostbusters is coming rather than the Mars Rover disappeared quickly due to low stock.

I'm in the middle of reading Game of Thrones so this phrase stuck out like a sore thumb to me...the words of house CCC perhaps :-P

I think that the BttF Delorean (along with the Ghostbusters Ecto-1) could do good as more of a long term, prices likely to spike around significant anniversaries - which with Ghostbusters will obviously mean a long wait. If the Delorean disappears before the end of the year, next year might get some interest because of the 2015 references in the film, but I wouldn't bank much on it, as mentioned above, the fact that other retailers have it means its likely to linger at retail across the next year.

Although maybe they will do what they did with the film in the UK, delay the release until just before Xmas. I remember as a young teen the wait to be able to see the film, the music was out while we were at school before the summer holidays and the film didn't appear in cinemas until the christmas holidays ... such a long wait.

Anyone else notice that the aftermarket price (in fact, the price in general) of CMF boxes has had a significant uptick across the board...at least on eBay? It used to be that a patient person could pick up a box for roughly $150; now that price is in the $225 range...even for the Series that didn't do so well. It seems like it all started with Series 10 and the hunt for Mr. Gold. With the RRP for Simpsons at $3.99, I think those that picked up boxes should do pretty well.

^Possibly with Series 10, but I think The Lego Movie and The Simpsons have had a lot to do with the "uptick".

Actually, I remember perusing the Series 10 boxes last fall, and they never dropped below $180 on eBay (and that was only from a couple sellers for very brief periods). I guess everyone thought their odds of getting a Mr. Gold were improved by getting the entire box. As Series 10 approached EOL, the prices went up from there.

The Lego Movies sets have done well due to the extra advertising the movie has given this particular series. That and the short time they were available, which I still think is odd. Perhaps TLG was trying to force people to purchase more box sets to get the minifigs.

The Simpsons boxes are more expensive because of the 33% increase in the RRP. So what was a $150 per box is now north of $200.

As has been said before on another thread, increasing the non-licensed CMFs to $3.99 is going to hurt the sales of CMFs. Basically, TLG plan is to ask for $0.75-$1.00 per plastic piece...which is insane. If this does end up being the case, then the individual CMF sealed packets should rise as well.

Now that they are making licensed series, the interest in the "original" figs will be less and less. Demand will increase for more licensed ones. There's a good chance, I think, that Series 12 in the fall may be the last "original" one. I'll be glad when they are finished with them at this point. Time to move on.

^That very well is possible, but I was able to buy a Series 10 box for the same price I bought my Series 9. It wasn't until TLM came out that i had to pay more for a box of TLM CMF's.

Out of curiosity, did you get those sets from eBay or some other outlet? Once upon a time it was possible to order boxes of CMFs from Amazon France for a much lower price. Unfortunately, Amazon France put the hiatus on that. Of course you could never know what condition it would arrive in. I once had the freight train set arrive in a box from France that appeared to be sawed completely in half (bricks and all) and then taped back up.

Now that they are making licensed series, the interest in the "original" figs will be less and less. Demand will increase for more licensed ones. There's a good chance, I think, that Series 12 in the fall may be the last "original" one. I'll be glad when they are finished with them at this point. Time to move on.

There's more profit in it for TLG if they sell the unlicensed sets...especially if they keep them at $3.99. But I can't disagree with your sentiment. If they do continue the CMFs, I plan to be much more choosey and certainly won't be trying to get complete sets, much less a box.

Now that they are making licensed series, the interest in the "original" figs will be less and less. Demand will increase for more licensed ones. There's a good chance, I think, that Series 12 in the fall may be the last "original" one. I'll be glad when they are finished with them at this point. Time to move on.

The strange thing is, both TLM to a little extent and The Simpsons to a greater extent seem to be getting people into collecting non-licensed CMF. I use swapfig.com a fair bit, and I get a fair few trade requests from new users that have only The Simpsons available for swapping that want minifigs from earlier non-licensed series.

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prevereNorth of Bellville, East of Heartlake, South of Bricksburg, West of Ninjago City MemberPosts: 2,892

The other problem for collectors is that if you're starting at Series 12, going backwards to catch up is very expensive. Especially if you're just a kid. By way of licensed series, they each are their own collection of 16 and that is easier to handle.

Still shocked to see "official" Mr. Golds going for the same amount roughly they did after the price stabilized a month after Series 10's release.

And where are all the other Mr Golds if you hardly ever see series 10 in shops any more but the site still says that less than half have been found?

Even accounting for people that didn't register theirs, surely there must still be some around?

We never opened ours yet nor told the kids yet. My eldest is quite the collector, but I know my middle one would also love one so it isn't fair to give to one of them. For now it will be kept as our secret. If we never find another one (which likely we won't) then it will remain a secret until the kids are grown up.

It's a shame that I cannot give both kids one, but I'm also happy in keeping it in the family collection. I just won't tell them yet because I don't see the need for any drama.

If the kids were the only ones interested in Lego, I could see the advantages in selling, but we also have our own personal collections.

If we were so low on cash that their education was at risk, I wouldn't hesitate, I would sell anything I could not to jeopardize their education. They are still young but I do hope that we won't ever be in that position though.

A fellow collector that lives nearby (and also frequents this blog) found one at a local pharmacy store. He opened it, took a picture to prove he had found one, then promptly sold it. I was a little surprised, but then again I know that sometimes marital strife can be mitigated by using a hobby to fund itself. That and the temptation of making $700-$800 from a little bag containing a few pieces of plastic. :-)

On a related note, I find it a bit dishonest that people selling individual Series 10 bags on eBay always put "possible Mr. Gold?" in the listing title...as if the seller hasn't already frisked every single one out of the box. But I would expect there are a lot of unopened Series 10 boxes out there that do contain a Mr. Gold.

^When I bought my box of Simpsons figures from WHSmith the guy serving me remembered me from buying a box of series 10 and told me they still had a couple of boxes of Series 10 up in their storeroom. I think he said they were still sealed too. Could be a Mr Gold lurking up there! :-)

A fellow collector that lives nearby (and also frequents this blog) found one at a local pharmacy store. He opened it, took a picture to prove he had found one, then promptly sold it. I was a little surprised, but then again I know that sometimes marital strife can be mitigated by using a hobby to fund itself. That and the temptation of making $700-$800 from a little bag containing a few pieces of plastic. :-)

On a related note, I find it a bit dishonest that people selling individual Series 10 bags on eBay always put "possible Mr. Gold?" in the listing title...as if the seller hasn't already frisked every single one out of the box. But I would expect there are a lot of unopened Series 10 boxes out there that do contain a Mr. Gold.

There's a pharmacy here that has four Series 10 bags left, but they're $4/pop. I guess I could feel them up; would be great to pick up a Mr. Gold. That would get me that Arkham Asylum I'm longing for plus get a few rooms of the house painted!

Hope this is a good place to ask, but is trading away my used Winter Village Toy Shop for a Used Emerald Night a good deal? I bought the Toy Shop in hopes of collecting the other sets, but they were far too expensive for what you get. So I just stopped.

The Toy Shop and Emerald Night are apples and oranges. It's really a matter of taste, although the Emerald Night was a bit more expensive than the Toy Shop last time I looked. Is the Toy Shop the only WV set you have?

I posted the update about the SSD as it had been out of stock at all retailers in the USA and there was some conjecture regarding EOL of this set in the USA. I will post when Amazon and Walmart restock as it may help some fellow resellers.

I think the Bag End set will do well long term. It's the best of The Hobbit and LOTR sets. Could be had for a good price. Has a lot of minifigs. It's a great display model. A house. A playable set. It has a lot going for it. Now, will it go double or triple RRP a year after it retires? I have no idea.

^ I think it's a safer bet than most that it will, because even though Peter Jackson has stretched, CGI'd and elf-ized the living daylights out of a beloved story, that beloved story will remain...beloved.

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